Alfie Hewett denied fourth French Open title as Japanese teenager Tokito Oda wins wheelchair singles

Alfie Hewett found Tokito Oda too strong in the final of the men’s wheelchair singles at the French Open, but compatriot Andy Lapthorne triumphed in the quad wheelchair doubles.

Hewett has been the dominant force in singles and arrived in Paris as the No. 1 seed and in search of a fourth Roland-Garros crown.

But he met his match in the shape of Japanese teenager Oda who produced a scintillating display.

Oda overwhelmed Hewett in the opening set, with the Brit having no answers to the 17-year-old’s aggressive approach when returning serve.

Time and again, Oda would move inside the baseline to take the serve early and on both wings he delivered precision returns that Hewett struggled to handle.

Two breaks of serve were enough for Oda to take the opening set 6-1.

Hewett was broken again in a mammoth game at the start of the second set and although the Brit fought bravely, he could not deny Oda who wrapped up a 6-1 6-4 win on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“You fully deserved that title today, that was simply amazing out there – and for a young lad, that’s seriously impressive,” Hewett said. “I’m sure there are going to be many more battles and finals between us ahead.

“I want to say a massive thank you to Roland-Garros for giving myself and Tokito the opportunity to play in this incredible arena.

“It’s my first time playing here and it is as good as it looks on the TV – I’m really happy to play here, not so happy with the result but we move on and there’s Wimbledon next so I’m looking forward to that.”

Hewett will have the chance to shake off the loss when he teams up with Gordon Reid against Martin de la Puente and Gustavo Fernandez in the doubles.

Lapthorne secured glory for Great Britain when teaming up with South Africa’s Donald Ramphadi to beat Robert Shaw and Heath Davidson 1-6 6-2 10-3 in the quad wheelchair doubles.

After clinching a 14th doubles Grand Slam, Lapthorne said: “This is the first time we’ve played together and we’ve ended up winning, so hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.”

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